$21.5 million for missed pneumonia

She was sent home twice for flu-like symptoms without antibiotics. This will make me think twice about doing the same:

The award stems from the March 1999 death of Mary O’Sullivan, an Irish immigrant who went to Newport Hospital three times in four days with flu-like symptoms and ended up dying of complications from streptococcus pneumonia, Decof said.

The lawsuit claimed that Dr. Charles L. Stengel, who saw her on the second visit, failed to recognize and react to signs of bacterial infection and sent O’Sullivan home without antibiotics, telling her to see another doctor in five days. In less than two days, O’Sullivan was back in the hospital, where another doctor immediately recognized she had pneumonia and severe sepsis, Decof said.

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